BitFenix Phenom M & ITX Review

Up Close: Stripped

Both the top and front sections of the case pop off with a few firm tugs revealing the metal chassis underneath. Again we can see the bay cover for the legacy 5.25" bay, sitting as It does above the huge front intake grill. Again anyone familiar with the bare bones of the Prodigy chassis will be experiencing a certain sense of deja-vu about now.

The removal of the top cover affords us a better view of the roof ventilation cut out. The screw holes for 120mm fans with a 15mm spacing can be clearly seen. There appears to be enough room at either end for rad end tanks so a 240mm based water-cooling solution is well on the cards. The image below right shows the adapter plate which attaches to the 5.25" bay internally allowing an additional 3.5" or 2.5" drive to be installed.

The interior of the right hand side panel is also quite an busy area, housing as it does 2x2.5" drive trays in the plastic mesh area. It's also home to the business end of the front I/O, but as BitFenix have had enough forethought to fit all the connections with long cables there shouldn't be any drama in detaching these accidently when removing the door

Most Recent Comments

I seriously want the Phenom mITX in white. Wish they made a side panel window option available though Going to read now, thanks Gary!

Edit;
Hey I have just read through it (skipped some of the mATX parts) and it leaves me with two questions.

1) The front of the Phenom is completely closed. Why is there still a 5.25" bay on the inside? You couldn't acces it from the front anyway. I know it's easily removable and most people won't use an optical drive anyway but it just leaves me wondering.

2) Would it be a bad idea to drill some more holes into the sides where the front fans would intake? Would it make the case less stable or anything? And also is there no 'gap' in the bottom (of the front panel) for air to get through, and if so, would it look silly to create one?

I have lots of ideas for this case but I want to do a high-end build and if it's not good enough, it's just not good enough, as much as that sucks cause I love the way it looks and the options that it offers for the price.Quote

1) The front of the Phenom is completely closed. Why is there still a 5.25" bay on the inside? You couldn't acces it from the front anyway. I know it's easily removable and most people won't use an optical drive anyway but it just leaves me wondering.

2) Would it be a bad idea to drill some more holes into the sides where the front fans would intake? Would it make the case less stable or anything? And also is there no 'gap' in the bottom (of the front panel) for air to get through, and if so, would it look silly to create one?

1) The 5.25" bay is there as it is on all models that share the same original Prodigy chassis. From a manufacturing standpoint it's cheaper to leave it there than it is to press new panels without it.

2) All pretty much depends on your modding skills, but there's not too much that can be done to improve matters significantlyQuote

1) The 5.25" bay is there as it is on all models that share the same original Prodigy chassis. From a manufacturing standpoint it's cheaper to leave it there than it is to press new panels without it.

2) All pretty much depends on your modding skills, but there's not too much that can be done to improve matters significantly

1) That's fair enough from them I guess. I'd remove it anyway. Leaves me with a 5.25" tray for a scratch build or something

2) That's a bit unfortunate. I was actually thinking if the things I've just mentioned, then watched the video and saw Tom had the same idea. Do you reckon that would give enough airflow for a 5v Bitfenix Spectre Pro 230mm?Quote

Hi i have just built a gaming rig with the items below but i am concerned about how hot the case is getting when playing games as their is no ventilation where the gpu goes really and the metal case gets red hot

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